The GOES mission satisfies national operational environmental requirements for 24 hour observation of weather, Earth's environment, and the solar and space environment. To meet these requirements, NOAA continuously maintains operational satellites at two locations, 75 degrees West, and 135 degrees West, with an on-orbit spare. The GOES-I series (GOES 8-12) is the current operational series. The GOES-N series (GOES 13-15) is under contract; the GOES-R series, the follow-on continuity program to the GOES-N series, is under design. GOES-R must be operationally available (launched and checked out) by mid-fiscal year 2013 to provide coverage in the event of a failure of GOES-O or GOES-P.

In developing the GOES-R series, NOAA and NASA are striving to maintain a balance between user benefits and costs. Evolving user needs must be balanced with an affordable cost of the system. Complete life cycle end-to-end costs must be included in upfront planning to ensure decision makers have a full understanding of the system cost. Architectures, including ground systems, must be developed to effectively handle large volumes of data required by users.

To reach the goal of an optimal balance between benefits and cost, the GOES program has adopted various strategies. Trade studies are being performed against requirements. Multiple architecture options are being evaluated. End-to-end system architecture is being defined. The planned GOES-R program life cycle is structured similar to the NPOESS program as follows: 1) Pre-Study Phase; 2) Concept/ Architecture Development Phase; 3) Program Definition and Risk Reduction Phase (began 9/05) and 4) Acquistion and Operations (A&O) Phase (July 2007). With the A&O phase, a single system prime contractor will develop and acquire the system. Advantages of the prime contractor approach include focusing system definition and development activities on the system as a whole (both space and ground); and establishes clear lines of accountability and responsibility for system management and integration.

This presentation will provide an overview of the GOES Program and the strategies, plans, and schedules leading to an operational GOES-R system.